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About 1 or 2 new mothers in every 1,000 get a rare but serious mental illness called postpartum psychosis.¹

Most cases of postpartum psychosis start in the first two weeks after the baby is born. This is different from postpartum depression, which usually comes on weeks or even months after the birth.²

You might have postpartum psychosis if you have some or all of the following.^{2 3}

• You can't sleep
• You feel agitated or irritated
• You feel depressed or unusually happy, or swing rapidly between these moods
• You have beliefs that couldn't be true (called delusions), often about your baby
• You see, hear, touch or smell things that aren't real (called hallucinations)
• You feel very confused
• You avoid your baby.

Women with postpartum psychosis may harm themselves or their babies, or both. Because of this risk, they are usually cared for in the hospital with their babies. They are usually given antipsychotic drugs.²

No one knows exactly what causes postpartum psychosis. But because it tends to come on so quickly after childbirth, many researchers think it's set off by the changes in a woman's body, such as the rapid changes in hormones after giving birth.⁴

The symptoms of postpartum psychosis are a lot like those of a mental illness called bipolar disorder. Another name for that illness is manic depression. And women with bipolar disorder have a high risk, between 30 percent and 50 percent, of getting postpartum psychosis after having a baby.^{1 5 6}

Postpartum psychosis is most common after the first pregnancy. Women with this illness get better, but they're at high risk of getting it again after another pregnancy or at other times in their life.⁴

Women who've had a mental illness before, which was bad enough to needhospital treatment, have a higher chance of postpartum psychosis.⁷

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.